Get used to opposing offenses going for it on fourth down vs KC Chiefs

By Leigh Oleszczak | Sep 24, 2019

KANSAS CITY, MO - SEPTEMBER 22: Hayden Hurst #81 of the Baltimore Ravens reaches for a pass in the end zone with pressure form Juan Thornhill #22 of the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on September 22, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images) /

When watching the KC Chiefs take on the Baltimore Ravens this past weekend, it wasn’t hard to notice how often the Ravens opted to go for it on fourth down rather than punt the ball away. This will become a trend against the Chiefs.

The Baltimore Ravens decided to go for it on fourth down four times in their Sunday afternoon loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. On those four tries, they were successful all but once. This is going to be something Chiefs fans should get used to this season.

The biggest reason for that is that the Chiefs have the best offensive in all of football right now. They’re a threat to score from any time and from any position on the field. We’ve seen them score with ease in the red zone as well as from 90+ yards away.

The Chiefs offense being able to strike and get hot at any moment is why opponents are going to do whatever they can to keep Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Sammy Watkins, Mecole Hardman, Demarcus Robinson, LeSean McCoy, and the other slew of weapons off the field. That could include going for it on fourth down more than teams typically prefer to.

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Baltimore also went for the two-point conversion three separate times and the Chiefs were able to keep them from converting every single time. The Ravens have the best kicker in the league in Justin Tucker and those would have been three near automatic points.

The final score was 33-28, so had John Harbaugh opted to just kick the extra point, Baltimore could have been within a field goal of winning the game on Sunday.

Teams know how good Andy Reid, Mahomes, and the rest of this offense can be and they also know how poorly the defense performs at times. If they can take advantage of one of the weaker defenses in the league and keep Mahomes off the field at the same time, that’s a win for the opposition.

We might not see teams be as bold as the Ravens when it comes to this, but if a team has the ball in their own territory and it’s fourth down, they’ll likely start going for it and trying to put up as many points as possible because they know it’ll take that kind of effort to beat Patrick Mahomes and the KC Chiefs.

Whether you agree with the strategy or not, it makes sense for opponents to start doing this.

Will we see the Lions roll with a similar strategy in week four? Time will tell.

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